--- title: "Hercules" year: 1997 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/hercules" fi1m_id: "hercules" imdb_id: "tt0119282" tmdb_id: 11970 wikidata_id: "Q271189" fi1m_score: 75 critics_score: 77 critics_reviews: 13 published: "2026-09-23T14:32:35.061693+00:00" updated: "2026-09-23T14:32:35.617535+00:00" region: "SA" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Hercules (1997) Directed by Ron Clements, John Musker · 1h 33m · Animation, Family, Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy, Romance ## Identity Hercules - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/hercules - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** hercules - **IMDb ID:** tt0119282 - **TMDB ID:** 11970 - **Wikidata ID:** Q271189 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119282/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/11970, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q271189 **Fi1m score: 75** · Critics 77 from 13 reviews *In a sentence:* Hades talks like a Hollywood agent, the Muses sing like a girl group, and Hercules is the dullest man in his own film > Musker and Clements turn Greek myth into a showbusiness comedy, drawn by Gerald Scarfe as if scraped off a vase, and James Woods’s Hades steals every scene he is in. The songs are strong, the hero is a blank, and the children will not mind. ## Synopsis On Mount Olympus, Zeus (Rip Torn) and Hera (Samantha Eggar) are celebrating the birth of their son when Hades (James Woods), lord of the Underworld, arrives with a gift and a grudge. The Fates tell him the boy will one day stand in the way of his plan to overthrow Zeus, so he sends his minions Pain (Bobcat Goldthwait) and Panic (Matt Frewer) to kidnap the baby and turn him mortal. The potion is not quite finished, and two farmers, Alcmene (Barbara Barrie) and Amphitryon (Hal Holbrook), find the child with his strength intact. Grown into a clumsy teenager (Josh Keaton) who wrecks the marketplace, Hercules (Tate Donovan) learns who his father is and goes looking for Philoctetes (Danny DeVito), a retired trainer of heroes, to earn his way back to Olympus. ## Review John Musker and Ron Clements made [*The Little Mermaid*](https://film.one/film/the-little-mermaid) and [*Aladdin*](https://film.one/film/aladdin), and *Hercules* is what happens when that team decides the Greek myths are really about fame. Their Hercules is not a tragic strongman but a small-town boy who wants to be somebody, and once he reaches Thebes the film treats heroism as a career: merchandise, endorsements, and a chorus of five Muses who sing his progress like a girl group. It reached British cinemas on 10 October 1997, and it is a brisk, noisy, often funny 93 minutes with one great villain and a hero who barely registers. Worth your evening if the genre is yours, and the children will not need persuading. The look is the first thing you notice, and it is Gerald Scarfe’s. The production designer draws people as if they had been scraped off a black-figure vase: long noses, jutting chins, feet like paddles, and a Hades whose hair is a blue flame that turns red when he loses his temper. It is the most distinctive Disney looked in that decade, and it is not always pretty. Scarfe’s angles fight the studio’s rounder house style, and in the crowd scenes you can see the two arguing. Tom Finan and Robert W. Hedland cut the musical numbers hard on the beat, and the film never sits still for long. James Woods is the reason to watch it. His Hades is a fast-talking salesman, all “babe” and “name your price”, and Woods plays him as a man who has been stuck in a dead-end job for several thousand years and knows exactly whose fault it is. We laughed out loud, more than once, at nothing more than the speed of his complaining when a plan goes wrong. Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer, as Pain and Panic, are his shape-changing stooges and get the best physical gags; a scene in which they turn up wearing the hero’s own merchandise is the film’s neatest joke about itself. Alan Menken’s songs are the other good reason. Instead of an orchestra and a princess he gives the film gospel: the Muses, five women in white, open the story by telling the stuffy narrator to sit down, and “Zero to Hero” is the best number, built to be sung along to in the car. Susan Egan, as Meg, gets “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)” in a garden of statues, with the Muses turned to stone cherubs and singing back at her. We were more moved by it than we expected to be. Meg is the only character with anything to hide, and Egan sings like a woman who has been let down before and would rather not discuss it. The hero is the problem. Tate Donovan’s Hercules is amiable, gangly and blank; he wants to be a hero because the film needs him to, and once Danny DeVito’s Philoctetes, a goat-legged trainer with a rasp and a whistle, has knocked him into shape, there is not much left to learn about him. DeVito is good value, but he is doing the sidekick job Robin Williams did in *Aladdin*, and doing it smaller. Then there is the satire. Thebes fills up with Hercules sandals, Hercules drinks and a Hercules Store, and the joke is that fame is a racket. We laughed, and then felt slightly used, since the joke was being told by a company that knows a great deal about selling sandals. Kate Bergh is credited with costume design, which in a cartoon means deciding that Meg wears purple slit to the hip and Hades a robe that hangs like smoke, and both decisions are right. Against the directors’ own work the film sits below *Aladdin* and *The Little Mermaid*, both of which had a lead you cared about. Most critics land roughly where we do, and the affection the film has gathered since is mostly for Woods and Scarfe, which seems fair. It is a U, and it earns it: nothing here will frighten anyone, and the Underworld is a place of green light and grumbling rather than dread. Put it on for children who like their heroes loud, and stay on the sofa for the villain. He is the only one on screen who seems to be enjoying himself. *Fi1m score 75, published 23 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like Hercules, and the praise clusters in two places. The first is Gerald Scarfe’s angular, caricatured designs, which several reviewers call the freshest thing Disney animation had attempted in years. The second is James Woods’ fast-talking Hades, named as the chief attraction for adults by nearly every review that discusses the voice cast. David Zippel’s lyrics, the gospel chorus and the brisk handling by directors John Musker and Ron Clements also draw warm words. The reservations are about tone. The mixed reviews find the film cheeky rather than funny, working too hard to amuse grown-ups and leaning on gags that assume some classical knowledge. The Independent argues the anachronisms make the myth accessible at the cost of its weight, and Empire calls it noisy and relentless where it should be charming. Collider ranks it lowest among Musker and Clements’ films. Nobody dislikes it outright; the spread runs from admiring to lukewarm, and the later retrospectives divide much as the reviews of the time did. ## Straight answers **Is Hercules worth watching?** *Hercules* is worth watching for families who like their Disney loud and fast, and we scored it 75. James Woods's fast-talking Hades and Alan Menken's gospel-flavoured songs carry it; Tate Donovan's hero is amiable and blank, and the film sags whenever the villain leaves the screen. Children will not need persuading. **How long is Hercules, and what is it rated?** *Hercules* runs 1h 33m. It is an animation and family film. **Where can I watch Hercules in Saudi Arabia?** *Hercules* is not on any streaming or rental service in Saudi Arabia at the moment. It is available in 48 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How does Hercules compare to Aladdin?** *Hercules* is the lesser of the two, though it comes from the same directors and works the same trick of a scene-stealing comic voice beside a straight hero. [*Aladdin*](https://film.one/film/aladdin) has a lead you care about and a Genie who fills every scene; *Hercules* has the stronger villain and a bolder look in Gerald Scarfe's designs, but a hero who barely registers. **What should I watch after Hercules?** After *Hercules*, try [*Aladdin*](https://film.one/film/aladdin) (1992, Fi1m 82): The same directors and the same trick, with a hero and villain who both earn their songs. Then [*The Emperor's New Groove*](https://film.one/film/the-emperors-new-groove) (2000, Fi1m 80): Disney at its most flippant; the villain’s sidekick again walks off with the film; and [*O Brother, Where Art Thou?*](https://film.one/film/o-brother-where-art-thou) (2000, Fi1m 82): The Odyssey in Depression-era Mississippi, with gospel and bluegrass doing the Muses’ work. ### Reviews we read (13) - **Vulture** (91/100, inferred): The critic calls the 1997 Disney animated film an underrated masterpiece and their favorite Disney movie, praising its blend of hero story and rom-com elements along with a standout soundtrack. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2014/07/disneys-hercules-is-an-underrated-masterpiece.html) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): This free-spirited show-biz version of Greek mythology ranks with the best of modern Disney animation. The critic singles out the snappy musical patter by David Zippel, the wisecracking aura combined with romantic poignancy, and the deft mix of comic tone with traditional Disney life lessons. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-25-ca-6546-story.html) - **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (90/100, inferred): The ingenious new animated Hercules is pretty divine, with Disney animation back in top form. The critic singles out the inspired intuition bringing together ancient lore, gospel singing, girl-group choreography, and free-floating mischief into a jubilant pastiche, plus wild visual ideas from production design by Gerald Scarfe. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/13/movies/oh-heavens-what-a-hero.html) - **Variety**, Leonard Klady (90/100, inferred): Hercules displays the muscle and charm to dominate family and kid biz for the season as a winning tall tale, cleverly told and wonderfully voiced. The critic singles out the forceful and amusing melding of character animation with the screen personae of the actors voicing the roles, particularly Danny DeVito and James Woods, plus the vitality and insouciance from directors John Musker and Ron Clements. [Read](https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/hercules-2-1200450181/) - **Time Out**, TJ (89/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as another benchmark achievement by the Aladdin team of Musker and Clements, noting its infectious humour that appeals across ages and the great craft in Gerald Scarfe's angular visual design. They single out the likeable but dim-witted grown-up Herc, James Woods' cigar-chomping Hades as the chief attraction for adults, and the gospelling divas of the chorus. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hercules-1) - **IndieWire**, Carlos Aguilar (80/100, inferred): The critic argues that the 1997 Disney animated film, despite underperforming at the box office, was a key creative success in the studio's 1990s renaissance with enduring strengths in its reimagining of Greek myth. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/hercules-disney-90s-animated-renaissance-1234751827/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (79/100, inferred): The film is lighter, brighter, and more cheerful than the previous year's Hunchback of Notre Dame, with more for kids to identify with. The critic singles out the fresh visual style from Gerald Scarfe's caricatures and the witty in-jokes and satire mixed with broad entertainment for children. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hercules-1997) - **The Independent** (60/100, inferred): The critic finds the film cheeky rather than genuinely funny and notes that its anachronisms and product placements make Greek mythology accessible but come at the cost of gravitas. The animation mixes styles effectively with distinctive Gerald Scarfe designs, and the modern relevance of the themes is a strength. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dig-the-pumps-herc-1234872.html) - **Empire**, Andrew Collins (50/100, inferred): The review notes that the film falls into the 'New Disney' category of being noisy, intellectual and relentless rather than charming, with a by-the-numbers feel despite springy drawings and fulsome songs. It works too hard for grown-ups and requires classical knowledge for its gags. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hercules-review/) - **Den of Geek**, Simon Brew (79/100, inferred): The piece reflects positively on the 1997 Disney animated film Hercules as an underappreciated entry in the studio's renaissance era, noting its box office performance and lasting affection among fans. It singles out the voice casting process, particularly the successful choice of James Woods as Hades after other high-profile options fell through, as a highlight of the production. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/disney-s-hercules-and-the-challenge-of-casting/) - **/Film**, Josh Spiegel (77/100, inferred): The critic views the film as a charming but slightly diminished follow-up to Aladdin, with time having been kind to its quirky Gerald Scarfe-inspired animation and strong voice work despite some contemporary criticism of its look and tone. The one element singled out for praise is James Woods' energetic, improvisational performance as Hades, which stands out as the film's highlight. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/568984/hercules-revisited/) - **Paste**, Jesse Hassenger (64/100, inferred): In a retrospective on late-90s Disney animation, the critic groups Hercules with other post-Aladdin efforts that replicate its style of dashing heroes, contemporary sidekicks, and Broadway songs in myth/legend settings. No specific verdict on the film itself beyond contextualizing it in the era's output. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/disney/disney-tarzan-at-25) - **Collider**, Tyler B. Searle (50/100, inferred): The critic ranks it lowest among Musker/Clements films, calling it a stepping-stone project whose overdone story mixes sports and superhero tropes with celebrity satire. They single out the stylistic animation and James Woods' iconic Hades performance as reasons it still has fans. [Read](https://collider.com/best-animated-disney-movies-john-musker-ron-clements-ranked/) ## Details - **Director:** Ron Clements, John Musker - **Director:** Ron Clements, John Musker - **Screenplay:** Ron Clements, John Musker, Irene Mecchi, Don McEnery, Bob Shaw - **Editor:** Tom Finan, Robert W. Hedland - **Music:** Alan Menken - **Production design:** Gerald Scarfe - **Costume design:** Kate Bergh - **Producer:** John Musker, Alice Dewey, Ron Clements - **Cast:** Tate Donovan as Hercules (voice); Josh Keaton as Young Hercules (voice); Roger Bart as Young Hercules (singing voice); Danny DeVito as Philoctetes (voice); James Woods as Hades (voice); Susan Egan as Meg (voice); Bobcat Goldthwait as Pain (voice); Matt Frewer as Panic (voice) - **Runtime:** 1h 33m - **First release (the US):** 13 June 1997 - **Genres:** Animation, Family, Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy, Romance - **Budget:** $85 million - **Box office:** $253 million ## Where to watch in Saudi Arabia Not streaming, renting or buying in Saudi Arabia at the last check. Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Annie Award for Best Animated Feature 1997: Annie Award for Best Animated Feature (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Aladdin* (1992), Fi1m 82: The same directors and the same trick, with a hero and villain who both earn their songs — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/aladdin.md) - *Jason and the Argonauts* (1963): Greek myth played straight, with Ray Harryhausen’s skeletons and gods who watch from Olympus - *The Emperor's New Groove* (2000), Fi1m 80: Disney at its most flippant; the villain’s sidekick again walks off with the film — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-emperors-new-groove.md) - *O Brother, Where Art Thou?* (2000), Fi1m 82: The Odyssey in Depression-era Mississippi, with gospel and bluegrass doing the Muses’ work — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/o-brother-where-art-thou.md) - *Kirikou and the Sorceress* (1998): A West African hero’s tale in flat colour and folk music, with no merchandise in sight --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/hercules